First details of SFIV newcomers

Capcom has given us a run down of what fresh characters Crimson Viper and Abel will have to offer in Street Fighter IV.

Crimson Viper is the mysterious secret agent woman who power-dresses. She also has electric and seismic gadgets up her sleeves, as well as a flame-thrower and jet propulsion boots.

She can deal out electric shocks to enemies with her Thunder Knuckle move which, if used with a jab, attacks under incoming projectiles. Use it with a fierce attack and you uppercut, which is useful for people assaulting you from the air.

Or you can set fire to people by kicking them. This is a sort of Chun-Li spinning kick and is great for dodging leg sweeps. You can use it in the air, too, and it cancels standard attacks. That must be good, we think.

Viper also has a Seismic Hammer ground-punch to offer, which sends a shock-wave across the floor. The stronger the attack, the further it will travel. You can jump a bit higher than others too, by pulling off a High Jump using her jet-propulsion boots.

Combining all of these is her Emergency Combination Super Combo. You punch with electric and seismic fists, then finish off with a fiery kick. Which is more or less what you do in your Burst Time Ultra Combo, only that ends with an even bigger fiery kick.

Then there is Abel, the French fighter that uses a brand of martial arts with military precision. He has no projectiles to offer, but has lots of fast punches to use when up-close and personal, as well as powerful grapples and throws.

Abel can use the Marseille Roll to close the gap and roll under incoming projectiles. Or he can Wheel Kick his way over, which jumps further depending on the power of kick used.

Throws are Falling Sky, which plucks an opponent from the air then mashes their face on the ground, or Tornado, which spins them round and round and thumps them on the floor a few times. This is hard to pull off and must be done on a floored opponent, but Capcom promises us that the pay off is worth it.

This is all cobbled together in his Heartless Super Combo, which dishes out some punches and then, depending on the button used, finishes with a tackle, Tornado, or Falling Sky.

Or you can use his nifty Soulless Ultra Combo, which thumps them a few times then tosses them into the sky, where you will meet them and escort their ugly features into the floor.

The third fresh character added to Street Fighter IV is El Fuerte, and while his moves are not detailed by Capcom, we are told he is a wrestler using the Lucha Libre style.